Now or Never
by ellkathryn13
Summary: Kennedy Baxter and her friends have been attending Canterwood Crest Academy for a couple years and know the ropes. But when a new riding instructor and new students are thrown in the mix right before an important show, how willing will they be to change?
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

The late September sun casted a gentle warmth down on the Canterwood Crest Academy campus, and I tried to soak in as much as possible as I walked from the science building to the humanities building. My black Jeffrey Campbell booties made a soft thud with each step I took on the cobblestone walkways and I shouldered my hunter green Longchamp tote.

"You would think Canterwood makes enough money to buy class sets of an 800-page book for us poor students, but no, we have to carry around our own," a voice rang out from behind me. I grinned and slowed down slightly so Brielle Nichols, one of my friends in my history class, could catch up.

"Honestly, it's like administration said during budgeting, "let's make the lives of advanced history students even harder and not give them a class set of a book they'll need every day" or something."

Brielle laughed as we climbed the stairs and entered the humanities building, walking along the marble floor and up another flight of stairs to the advanced hallway. All of the advanced English and history classes were held on the second level in smaller, more intimate classrooms. We walked in and took our regular seats. Our other bestie Olivia Calloway, who was also my roommate and we called Liv, was already seated.

"Was that reading last night killer or what? I practically had to have Kennedy chain me to my desk to finish it," Liv rolled her eyes, and I laughed at her dramatics. She definitely kept things interesting, and I loved the comic relief, especially when it came to school stress.

"I'm already looking forward to throwing away this book at the end of the semester and it's only September, S.O.S.," I groaned, getting out my history notebook, a black ballpoint pen- I hated writing in pencil- and our crazy huge textbook on world relations throughout history up until the Cold War written by a former politician. According to our teacher, Mr. Roberts, the book was critical for our understanding of this course, but we all wanted to throw it out a window. Not the most riveting read. Luckily I loved history and hoped to pursue a career in politics some day, so whenever I lacked motivation I just imagined receiving my dream internship in the White House and how this class would inevitably help. _Maybe I'll meet a cute boy in the White House and our first conversation will be about Cold War diplomacy. I'll definitely sound smart if I can drop some facts,_ I thought to myself.

"Hello, Earth to Kennedy? There's no way pre-Cold War relations make you smile like that, so what's up?" Brielle teased, poking my shoulder with her pen.

"Just trying to motivate myself, that's all," I shrugged as Mr. Roberts walked in, his worn copy of our textbook in hand.

"Hmmmm, so it's not pre-Cold War, but could relations of another kind be "motivating" you?" Liv asked under her breath, a slight smirk on her face.

"You guys are impossible! Now shh _,_ class is starting," I whispered, feigning seriousness.

After class ended, Brielle, Liv, and I all walked back to Hawthorne, our dorm hall, together. Brielle and I had to change before our riding lesson and Liv needed to change before her track practice. It would never get in the way of any potential friendships, but I loved that my friends and I were all athletes. We understood how hard we all worked and how committed we had to be to our sports. It also kept us on a pretty similar schedule, which was convenient. Liv's soccer practice ended around the same time Brielle and I finished up with our lesson.

"Meet you downstairs!" Brielle waved at both of us as she entered her room further down the hall, and Liv shut the door of ours. We fell into our routine, me slipping into my breeches, tall boots, and a long-sleeve gray shirt with CCA's logo on the back in white. I quickly put my long, thick red hair into a French braid and lightly dusted my face with translucent powder to mattify the oily spots that had popped up throughout the school day.

"Ready to roll out?" Liv asked, dressed in a loose-fitting white Nike tank top, black running shorts, and her fave gray Nike fly-knits that had been a back to school/congrats on becoming a varsity runner present from her parents. Her hair was in a high ponytail and any trace of makeup, except her mascara and eyebrows, was gone. Sweating in makeup was a no-no, especially for Liv's acne-prone skin. It wasn't hot enough for me to need to take mine off, so I nodded and we both grabbed protein bars and headed out the door.

"That was an excellent round, Kennedy. Leo was engaged the entire time and your timing was spot-on. I can tell you've been working on that," my riding instructor, Mr. Connor, nodded at me as I trotted Leo away from the course, patting his neck in praise. Leo tossed his head, as if he could understand the compliments himself. I smiled once I was back in line with the other five students in our class. Leo, my 17hh steel-gray Thoroughbred gelding, was the love of my life. My parents and I had rescued him from a horse adoption facility specifically for off-the-track Thoroughbreds. Leo had been a racehorse for a few years but never really took off, so his owners dumped him at the rescue facility with no remorse after a year of living in a field in their backyard with limited resources. It angered me to think of him neglected like that, but the rescue facility was able to train him and make him a great lesson/competition horse. I adopted him three years ago and it's been harmony ever since. Our specialty is cross-country, and I loved that even though the racehorse was trained out of him, he still had the competitive spirit, which matched well with mine. We were unstoppable together. I named him Leo after my favorite show, _The West Wing,_ and one of its characters, Leo McGary.

"Alright, Katrina, you're up next," Mr. Connor gestured to Katrina Baxter, another rider on the 10th grade advanced team. She cantered her mare, Ruby, in a circle before taking on the first of the eight jumps Mr. Connor was taking our class through. I loved stadium jumping, don't get me wrong, but I was itching to go out on the newly revamped cross-country course with Leo. Mr. Connor, along with his two stable hands Mike and Doug, had built some new obstacles and extended out the course. It opened at the start of the school year but Mr. Connor hasn't taken our class out on it yet. Getting adjusted to the pace of Canterwood classes kept me busy enough and left little free time, seeing as school had started only two weeks ago. A few of the obstacles were in view of the stable so Mr. Connor was okay with us jumping them when we felt like it, but if we wanted to take the entire course, we had to be in a larger group and let him know. Brielle and I were in the process of getting a group together over this coming weekend to hopefully try the entire course out.

"Great ride, Katrina. Ruby rushed the last fence, but you seemed prepared and were able to check it immediately. Continue to work with her on her pacing," Mr. Connor said as Katrina got back in line with the rest of us. The 10th grade advanced team consisted of me and Leo, Brielle and her gelding Harley, Katrina and Ruby, Amber Jennings and her gelding Harley, Chase Kingston and his gelding Zeus, and Ross Hartford and his mare Nala. We were the top riders in the 10th grade at Canterwood, and we were all very close with each other. As individual riders, we all had our specialties, but as a team we were hard to beat.

"I'm very impressed with how much everyone has improved over the summer and even over these past couple weeks. I know getting back into the swing of lessons every day on top of classes is difficult, but you all show strong evidence of hard work over the summer. Please take some time to cool your horses and check your emails when you get back to your rooms- we will be running through a sample dressage test for tomorrows lesson and I would like you all to familiarize yourself with the test beforehand," Mr. Connor smiled at us before exiting the arena.

"Be prepared for domination from Harley and I tomorrow," Amber teased as she hopped off her bay gelding. Amber and Harley excelled at dressage and were easily the strongest pair in that arena. We all cooled our horses and brought them back into the stable for grooming. The beautiful stark white stable with black trim looked straight out of Kentucky in it's spot between scenic rolling pastures, horses contained with white fencing. After grooming Leo, I turned him out in one of the pastures and he quickly trotted over to a palomino gelding and began grazing next to him.

Later that night, Liv and I were in comfy clothes and tackling the mountain of homework we had been assigned throughout the day. I had on black Lulu Lemon leggings and a cozy pale yellow Wildfox sweater. Liv had on gray terrycloth pajama shorts and an oversize black Nike quarter zip-up.

"How much do you have left? I have math and a few English questions and I'm done," Liv asked, tossing her science notebook aside. I scanned my planner and took note of any assignment left without a check mark next to it.

"The English questions and a worksheet for health," I told her, taking out a piece of notebook paper and my copy of _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_. It was the book Liv and I were currently reading in our English class, and our teacher, Ms. Fenton, had assigned a ton of short answer questions about what we had read so far in the novel. Luckily, we got work time in class, so I only had five left to complete.

"Awesome. There's a new peanut butter pretzel brownie at the Sweet Shoppe that I've been dying to try. I say we reward ourselves for getting through the third Monday back at school with a dessert trip once homework is done," Liv grinned as she flipped through _Cuckoo's Nest_.

"That only sounds like the best idea _ever!"_ I nodded in agreement. Liv and I both got to work on our last assignments, a little quicker now that we had motivation of the chocolate variety.

 _Here is Chapter One of my new story, Now or Never. It's a Canterwood Crest fanfic, so there will be some references to things in the original CCA books and characters (ex: Sweet Shoppe, Mr. Connor, etc.). And you never know, they might end up meeting Sasha, Heather, Lauren, or some of the others! I chose not to start the story off with Kennedy's start at CCA because I feel like that's what everyone does and I didn't know how to make mine more original. Plus, Kennedy and her friends have been attending CCA for a couple years, so starting off with them a couple weeks in and comfortable felt more realistic. Plus, that gives me the opportunity to reveal things like what their room looks like, relationships, etc. in later chapters, which I think is fun._

 _Thank you so much for reading, and be expecting regular updates! I can't promise a specific schedule, because I'm sure there will be some weeks where I upload 2-3 chapters and some weeks where I can only get 1 uploaded. Just be checking in :)_

 _I would LOVE and seriously appreciate reviews- the good and the bad. I know I'm not the best writer but I love to creatively write, so any praise and constructive criticism would be wonderful!_


	2. Chapter 2

I had just finished up with my eye makeup when someone knocked at our door the next morning. Liv put down her hair straightener and went to answer it.

"Hey beautiful ladies!" Brielle's roommate, Kendall Thompson, smiled as she walked through our door. She looked trendy and every bit the preppy girl attending an East Coast boarding school in light wash ankle-cut skinny jeans, a white button-up shirt under a burgundy sweater, black Steve Madden booties with a small heel, and her hair in a messy topknot. She had her black tote bag over her shoulder and a few smoothies in a cardboard drink carrier from Simplicity, a new healthy restaurant on campus that specialized in smoothies and juices.

"Hey to you, too! I'm definitely borrowing those booties sometime," I got up and hugged Kendall, grabbing my smoothie before sitting back down to finish my makeup.

"They're seriously my fave shoes- worth all the money I had to save up to buy them," she laughed, sitting down on Liv's bed. Our friend group liked to meet up in the morning for breakfast and just hang, but my alarm had failed to go off this morning so Liv and I were a bit behind. We texted the girls to meet up in our room, and Kendall had been sweet enough to run and get breakfast for us.

"Bri is on her way- Rowan was walking by Simplicity as we left so she hung back to chat with him for a bit," Kendall explained as she handed Liv her smoothie.

"When is that poor boy going to ask her out?" Liv giggled, taking a sip of her smoothie and then returning to her flatiron.

"I told her she should just do it. It's not the 1940's anymore- more power to her! But she wasn't a huge fan of that idea," Kendall replied.

"I don't blame her, that's scary. But Rowan is obviously into her," I said, doing a quick once-over of my makeup in the mirror above my desk. I used my desk as both a vanity and study space. The drawers on the right side were filled with my school supplies while the drawers on the left side were filled with my hair and makeup necessities. For my daily makeup, I liked to keep things natural and simple, since I would only be wearing it to classes. I used a BB cream and concealer to even out my skin tone, bronzer to contour and warm up my complexion, light blush and a barely-there dusting of highlight on my cheekbones and down the bridge of my nose to complete my face. Some of my freckles still showed through the makeup and it enhanced my natural features without looking like I caked on gallons of makeup. I filled in my eyebrows, dusted a gold champagne color on my lids, added definition to the crease of my eyes with a soft brown, and then curled my lashes and applied black mascara. My hair was in soft waves, and all that was left to do was pick an outfit.

"Kennedy, you have to do my makeup for my date tonight with Brandon," Kendall said as I walked over to my closet.

"Only if you help me pick out an outfit," I teased, and Kendall hurried over. All of my friends and I loved fashion, but Kendall was the queen of putting together outfits and was into fashion the most. She had an eye for pairing pieces that I never would think to put together, and during our pre-class hangouts, she always ended up helping at least one of us with our clothes.

"Sit back and let the master get to work," Kendall smirked, shooing me away. We all watched as she examined my closet, ruling things out that I had already worn that week.

"You like?" she asked as she turned around, holding up a pair of dark wash skinny jeans with a rip in both knees, a simple loose-fitting gray v-neck, and a hunter green TopShop bomber jacket.

"I _love-_ you're a genius! And I think my black Steve Madden slip-ons for shoes will go perfectly," I grabbed the outfit from her and quickly changed in the bathroom, loving the way the green jacket complimented my red hair. I slipped on my shoes- they were meant to look like black leather Vans with some quilting and they were my go-to sneakers.

"And the award for most stylish group of besties goes to… Kennedy Baxter, Brielle Nichols, Kendall Thompson, and Liv Calloway!" Brielle sang out as she walked through the door, using her smoothie as a microphone. She was wearing a long, flow long-sleeve burgundy top, destroyed light-wash boyfriend jeans, white Adidas sneakers, and she was carrying a black faux leather jacket in one hand.

"You have to dress well to be my friend, obviously," Liv winked, walking out of the bathroom. She was wearing a black t-shirt dress, white over-the-knee socks, caramel colored riding boots with a bit of a heel, and a jean jacket. The early October chill in the air made jackets a necessity when walking from class to class.

"So what did you and Rowan talk about?" Kendall asked eagerly, and Brielle just shrugged, a teasing smile on her face.

"Just your normal, everyday discussion topics- weather, homework, the new Mexican restaurant on campus that we're going to tomorrow night," she said as she sat down on my bed.

"BRIELLE!" we all screamed, and she broke out in laughter.

"We were just talking about how crazy this week has been and how excited we were for the weekend and he was like 'I think we deserve a reward for surviving the first month back at school- how about I take you out to dinner?' and I was like 'yeah that sounds fun' and I'm going on a date with Rowan!" her voice rose with every word and I was sure everyone on our floor now knew about the date as well.

"I'm seriously so happy for you, but let's continue this discussion on the way to first period," Liv said, checking the giant clock she had picked up over the summer at an antique store. Sure enough, it was time to go.

"Or we can stay and talk here- then we would have all of detention to plan your look for the date!" I teased as we all grabbed our tote bags- backpacks, no matter how stylish, killed even the cutest of outfits- and hurried out the door.

Being that it was a Friday and the weekend was tantalizingly close, classes seemed to drag on and on and on.

"So what are you and Brandon doing tonight?" I asked Kendall as we stepped into the lunch line. We had the same third period and always arrived first at lunch in our friend group, so it was our job to stake out our usual table and make sure no one else sat there.

"Going to see a movie. There's a new comedy that just came out and apparently it's pretty good," she replied, loading her tray with a turkey sandwich, apple slices, a bag of Baked Lays, and a water bottle. I opted for a Chinese chicken salad, kettle-cooked chips, and a water bottle. After paying, we went and sat down at our table. Brielle waved from the lunch line, and Liv texted in our group chat saying she and our other bestie, Spencer Patterson, were let out of math late because of a test and were on their way. Spence had just started at Canterwood at the start of second semester last year, so she was the newest out of our friend group, but she fit right in and quickly became a great addition to the group. She was roomies with Brielle and Kendall because they had managed to snag a triple.

"That will be fun and very low-key, which is good," I said after taking a bite of my favorite salad, and Kendall nodded.

"Totally. We just started dating, so anything more formal would feel weird." Brandon and Kendall began dating about a week into school. They had a couple classes together last year and got close very quickly, but decided not to start anything right before summer. So they talked over the summer and once they were back at CCA and verified that each still had feelings for the other, they made it official.

"Can someone please remind me why I signed up for advanced biology?" Brielle groaned as she sat down, immediately eating a forkful of pasta salad.

"I don't know, Bri, would it have anything to do with you wanting to be an equine vet in the future?" I teased, and she rolled her eyes. Brielle loved horses and had a huge passion for equine care. When Mr. Connor introduced the new aspect of our lessons- reading a horse manual and learning more about horse care and nutrition- she had practically read the entire thing in a week. Mr. Connor had happily supplied her with supplemental reading, and he's even let Bri shadow the vet that CCA uses when he comes to do check-ups.

"I have no idea how writing a three page paper on cell division will ever help me when a horse has colic or an abscess, but fingers crossed!" she said jokingly as Spence and Liv sat down.

"Who's horse has colic?" Spence asked, eyes wide with concern. Spence wasn't a rider either, but being around Bri and I had taught our friends a lot about horses. Spence played tennis and Kendall was super involved in leadership and philanthropy on campus. We were all supportive of each other and tried to make it to as many events as possible. Our extracurricular activities kept us all busy, so we took advantage of any time we could get to hang. Like lunch.

"No one, Bri just hates advanced bio," Kendall laughed.

"I can't even imagine- regular bio is rough for me as it is. I'll stick with advanced English," Liv said before taking a bite of her Caprese sandwich, and I nodded in agreement.

"We missed you at breakfast this morning, Spence. I hated having to tell you about Rowan over text," Bri pouted. Spence laughed and held up her iPhone.

"I think the long paragraph I got did the moment justice, but I wish I would've been there in person. My coach needed to go over some scheduling with me and Callie and he's heading out of town this afternoon with the JV team, so we had to meet up this morning," Spence explained. She and Callie Fryer, a senior at CCA, were the co-captains of the varsity tennis team. Spence was so talented that as a sophomore she beat out the upperclassmen for the position. I swore I would see Spence in the Olympics some day.

"Ooh, if you don't have practice tonight you should hang with me and Kendall while I get her date-ready," I offered, and Spence smiled.

"That sounds awesome, count me in!"

I walked down to the stable with Brielle, parting ways with Liv as she jogged down the path to the athletic fields. Bri and I were dressed in tan breeches, comfy sweatshirts, and our paddock boots. Every other Friday we were tested on our horse manual and did some kind of hands-on activity with our horses. I was glad for the break in riding. Getting back into the routine of lessons every day and riding at the advanced level was definitely tiring! Mr. Connor definitely didn't take it easy on us while we were adjusting.

"What do you think we'll be working on today?" Bri asked, putting her iPhone in her sweatshirt pocket. Her older sis went to the University of Washington, so Bri was repping in a purple sweatshirt with their logo on the front. I had a plain black sweatshirt with the Nike logo on the chest.

"Not sure. Probably something to do with grooming since that's what some of the chapter focused on," I suggested as we walked through the stable's open double doors. The stable was packed this afternoon with riders of all ages. A few had their horses cross-tied in the aisle, some were hanging out just outside the tack room, a few horses were walking along with the hot walker, and riders walked in and out of random stalls. Right after school was always the busiest in the stable since all underclassmen had their lessons after school. Juniors and seniors had morning lessons, and the advanced 6th, 7th, and 8th grade teams had mornings lessons as well, but everyone else was here in the afternoons. The riding program at CCA is so popular that over the last few years, multiple new instructors have been brought on to help Mr. Connor. He devotes most of his time to the advanced teams of each grade, the upperclassmen intermediate and advanced teams, and the YENT team. The riders on the Youth Equestrian National Team had lessons twice a day- I couldn't even imagine that. I was tired enough after one! Luckily, Bri and I didn't have to deal with the craziness yet. We always met up in the roomy hayloft to take the tests and then he would let us know what to do from there. But you never had to get your horse ready before the tests. We climbed up the stairs and joined Katrina, Chase, and Ross. We all chatted as we waited for Amber. She made it up just in time before Mr. Connor administered our test.

"All right, so today we will be going through what your grooming should consist of. This will be more in depth than your everyday grooming, but hopefully you can implement some of the extra steps sporadically. Your horses are all groomed every day and should be in great condition, so look at this as a refresher and a chance to pamper your horses," Mr. Connor explained, and we all nodded. I was excited! Leo worked so hard and was such a great horse- he deserved to be pampered, and hopefully I would learn new things I could start doing. We all went to get our horses and were instructed to bring them outside. I walked up to Leo's roomy box stall where my gelding was asleep, hind leg cocked and facing the back wall of his stall.

"Hey pretty boy," I greeted him softly, and he turned around at the sound of my voice, blinking sleepily. "You get a spa day, today! Mr. Connor wants to go through an in-depth grooming with us and we'll do some special things to pamper you. How fun does that sound?" I put on his brown leather halter, smiling at the gold nameplate on the cheek that read LEO- KENNEDY BAXTER on it, and clipped his black cotton lead line to the halter. I led him out and followed Amber and her beautiful gelding, Storm down the aisle and outside. Chase and Brielle had already tied their horses to a fence and we did the same, making sure the horses were evenly spaced out. Mr. Connor had tied Lancelot, a tall jet-black gelding he was currently training, to the same fence but on the other side so we could all see what he was doing. Once our entire class was out with our grooming kits, Mr. Connor began. I used all my brushes on Leo, his coat gleaming once I was done, picked his hooves and applied a gel to his hooves that would help strengthen the hoof, therefore helping to prevent injury. Then Mr. Connor had us do something new- put conditioner in our horses' manes and tails and leave it in after brushing through it.

"This will help to lock in moisture and strengthen the hair while making it feel softer as well. I would hugely recommend doing this the night before shoes as it makes the hair easier to braid, or the night before you're going to thin your horse's mane. When it's softer like this, the hair is easier to pull and thin," Mr. Connor said as we packed up our grooming kits. I would come by tomorrow morning and rinse the conditioner out of Leo's mane and tail. As I looked down the line, most of our horses had fallen asleep during the grooming session, or, like Leo, were two seconds away from falling asleep.

"I hope you all enjoyed today's session, as I'm sure your horses did. Make sure to be thinking about what you can do to pamper your horses, as they do so much for you. Thank you for your hard work and I will see you all Monday afternoon," Mr. Connor waved before leading a very groggy Lancelot back inside the stable. We all put our horses away and Brielle and I took our time walking back to Hawthorne, enjoying the late afternoon sun and fleeting warmth.


	3. Chapter 3

"Knock knock!" I said as I walked through Kendall's door. Spence was lying down on her bed doing something on her phone and I could hear the shower running in their shared bathroom. "Hey girly! Brielle ran down to the Sweet Shoppe to get us some hot chocolates, so she'll be back in a few. Kendall's showering," Spence put her phone down and sat up. I went over to Kendall's desk and sat down in her chair, looking at all her makeup she had laid out already. I was looking through her eyeshadow palettes when the water turned off and Kendall came out in a robe with her hair wrapped up in a towel.

"You're seriously saving my life by doing this, Kennedy, thank you," Kendall hugged me from behind and I laughed.

"Well I can't let my bestie go on a date without the right makeup look! That would just be cruel," I said as she walked over to her closet and pulled out her outfit for the night.

"I'm thinking this look- does this work with what you had in mind for my makeup?" she asked. Kendall was holding up black skinny pants meant to look like they were made out of leather, a white flowy top with some distressing around the neckline, and black Jeffrey Campbell suede lace-up booties. I had the same shoes in a caramel color and I loved them! The chunky heel was nice and easy to walk in.

"It's perfect! I'm in love with those pants," I nodded, and Kendall smiled before going into the bathroom and changing into her outfit. She looked incredible in it and the look was so her. Trendy, but not complicated. She walked into Brielle's room and came out with Brielle's desk chair, setting it down right in front of me.

"Do your magic, Kenny!" she grinned as she took her hair down from the towel and twisted it into a damp messy bun.

"Okay, so I'll talk you through what I'm doing and if you don't like something _please_ let me know! I want you to feel beautiful and confident tonight," I said, and Kendall nodded.

"I definitely think less is more with my makeup, but I completely trust you," she said.

"All I want to do is enhance your natural beauty! You have incredible skin, so I'm just going to use a light primer to ensure your makeup stays in place all night, and then a light-coverage foundation to even out your skin tone. Concealer under your eyes and you'll be set for the face," I spoke as I started on her makeup.

I used a damp Beauty Blender to blend her makeup into her face and give her the most natural look possible. The freckles sprinkled on her nose still showed through, and her dark circles under her eyes and the one blemish on her forehead were gone thanks to concealer. I also used the concealer to prime her eyelids for the eyeshadow. I set everything on her face with a translucent powder, mattifying her face and paying special attention to her t-zone. Her makeup would stay in place all night and not get oily thanks to the powder. Some light bronzer to contour brought out her beautiful cheekbones, and I dusted a warmer shade of bronzer over her face to bring her skin a slight bronzy glow. Then I applied some dusty-rose blush on her cheeks and highlighter on her cheekbones, down the bridge of her nose, and on her cupids bow. I then spritzed her face with setting spray, ensuring that her makeup would last all night and still look fresh.

"Okay, so I'm done with the face. What do you think?" I asked as Kendall turned to look at herself in the mirror.

"I think I look like a goddess! I should seriously be paying you for this," she said as she turned her head from side to side, the subtle highlight sparkling on her cheeks as she moved.

"I accept payment in desserts if you really feel obligated to," I winked, and Kendall laughed.

"A trip to the Sweet Shoppe is definitely in order- my treat," Kendall agreed, turning back to face me as Brielle walked through the door, a drink carrier with four travel cups of steaming liquid from the Sweet Shoppe in her hand.

"I come bearing hot chocolates!" she handed one to each of us, and I took a sip before setting it down to continue on makeup. The chocolately drink warmed me up instantly.

"Alright, now onto the eyes. I'm thinking a cool-toned look, maybe even a smoky eye, with some silvers and grays. That will go with your outfit perfectly, and not using any black or super dark colors will make sure it doesn't look like you got a black eye," I joked, reaching for Kendall's eye brushes and her Urban Decay Naked 2 palette.

"I'm all for Brandon thinking I'm tough and strong, but a black eye might send the wrong message," Kendall giggled. "That sounds perfect!"

I took another sip of hot chocolate and got to work. Spence began telling a story of an experiment gone wrong in her science class today to entertain us. I started with blending a taupe shade into her crease, keeping it light and blended out. Then I used a denser brush and applied a shadow a few shades darker than the taupe shadow into her outer corner only. I blended that out so it didn't look too harsh and it brought incredible definition to her green eyes. I then used the shimmery silver shadow and packed that all over her lid, blending it into the smoky outer corner seamlessly. I decided against eyeliner, but I blended some of the taupe shadow along her lower lash line to balance out the look. A quick application of nude eyeliner to her waterline and a white shadow to her inner corner opened her eyes up immediately, and a coat of jet-black mascara on her bottom and top lashes completed the look. I quickly filled in her eyebrows as well and then sat back.

"Okay, beautiful girl, take a look!" I grabbed my hot chocolate and stood up, taking a sip as Kendall checked out her new makeup in the mirror.

"Kennedy Baxter, I love you!" she squealed happily, her voice rising with every word. She checked out her makeup from every angle, and Spence, Brielle, and I held back our giggles when she got up super close to the mirror to look at her eyes.

"I left the lips open for you to decide. A nude pink or a mauve color would look awesome," I suggested, and Kennedy searched through her makeup on her desk before turning around, holding up a tube of MAC lipstick in a pretty mauve color.

"Love! The sheerness of it will help with the natural vibe we went with," I gave the lipstick my SOA and Kendall quickly applied it. She then took her hair out of the towel and began to blow-dry it.

"So, I have a date tonight, Brielle has the long-awaited-should've-happened-forever-ago date tomorrow night, and Liv has a date tomorrow night. What's happening in the boy department with you two?" Kendall gestured to Spence and I while combing through her now-dry hair.

"Nothing much, unfortunately. There's this insanely hot junior in my advanced history class and we just started talking because we're partners on this project we just got assigned," I said, and Brielle nodded her agreement.

"He's seriously gorgeous. His name is Ryan Dutton, and Kennedy blushes every time he looks at her," Brielle teased, causing me to blush again. My fair skin didn't really help me there.

"Dutton- he has a brother in our grade, right?" Kendall asked, using a small wand to curl her hair loosely.

"Yeah, Calvin Dutton. I have Spanish with him," Spence said.

"We're just talking because we have this project together, I don't know if it will turn into anything, but I'd like it to," I shrugged, and Spence turned to me.

"Having a project together is the perfect excuse! You guys can meet up to work on it together one afternoon and then work until dinner and just say 'I'm starving, and I think we deserve a break. Want to go get pizza?' and you know he'll say yes. Then you're out on a casual date, he'll see how incredibly amazing you are- if he hasn't noticed already- and there you go, relationship!" Spence said, talking faster with each word, and I laughed once she was done.

"That's actually genius, Spence. I fully support it," Kendall said, standing up and going over to her closet to get a jacket. Spence took a sip of her hot chocolate, a proud smile on her face.

"I'll definitely try that next time, good idea. But now I need to help you. Any guys you're interested in?" I asked Spence, and she thought for a second before shaking her head.

"Not really, but if anyone comes along, I'll def let you know," she said. Kendall threw on a dark wash denim jacket, spritzed some Marc Jacobs perfume on her neck and wrists, and look at all of us.

"Okay, do I look ready for a date?" she asked, and I nodded with a smile. Kendall was the most outgoing in our friend group. She was always up for doing whatever, talked to practically everyone in our grade, and carried herself with an untouchable confidence. But she was still a teenage girl, and moments like this where she was vulnerable with us and nervous about a date made me love her that much more.

"You look incredible. Brandon is going to flip out when he sees you," Spence said, handing Kendall her black quilted clutch purse she was bringing with her tonight.

"You look hot, Kendall! Every single guy at the movie theater will wish he was with you," Brielle agreed, and we all stood up, hugged her, and shooed her out the door.

"I'm thinking dinner, and then a movie in the common room?" I asked, and Brielle and Spence nodded. "Ok, I'll text Liv to meet us at the caf."


End file.
